Dr. Sherman Arch Ballou was raised on the farm depicted in this oil painting by his wife Sharon. His father grew tobacco and raised cattle just as Sherman does today. 'Farming brings back memories, it's sacred to me.' In 1972 Ballou purchased the first 50 acres of what is now the 200 acre farm he calls Whitney Woods. Ballou restored the farm, reversing todays trend of breaking up the land and selling it to developers.Tobacco grown on Ballou's land hangs like stalactites from his neighbors barn. Ballou, right, concedes that tobacco is no good but adds, 'It's just these farmers gotta eat %26 have a car, etc. They've depended on it for so many years, to iliminate it would be taking away their livelihood.' A dead male baby calf is removed from the rest of the herd by cattle farmer Dr. Sherman Ballou. 'That calf got to big before he was born, probaly suffocated during birth.' Sadly Ballou adds, 'It can't be all good. Ya gotta have some bad with the good.'Ballou, right, and neighbor David Parsley have been helping one another farm for over 10 years. 'You have to have someone you can hollar at %26 call on, you can't do these things by yourself.'Ballou's son-in-law, Jason Coomer, performs a quick mouth check on granddaughter, Sydney Hyatt. Dr. Sherman A. Ballou came to Cave City to open his first dental clinic in 1967. All of Dr. Ballou's four children have followed him into medicine. 'Makes me feel good, never pushed them in that direction, they chose it on their own.' Even Dr. Ballou's daughter, Sara, married a dentist. 'I don't think there's any better people than these old farm people,' says Sherman Ballou, right. 'Rural America is honest.' Neighbor Otis Sturgeon, left, has been farming since he was seven years old. 'He's the salt of the earth,' Ballou says, 'as good as gold.'
